Skip to main content

Sellout (for a Day).


Today's Edinburgh show was my busiest to date and the best one so far; two things that don't always go hand in hand from experience.

I’ve often found smaller fringe audiences to be the most responsive, as there’s something special about talking to an intimate room if that room’s on board. When there’s a bigger crowd you tell yourself it’s going to be a good one for it to inevitably fall flat; two of the best reviews Doggett & Ephgrave have received to date were to tiny crowds, if there’s such a thing; a handful of punters are often more impressed if you give a sparsely populated gig your all.

This morning’s show contradicted my theory perfectly. The audience was absolutely lovely and with me from start to finish; for the first time I was able to ride laughs, which was brilliant. I found I had to give it more energy than usual, which was surprising, but it was a great atmosphere and was a lot of fun to do - and the feedback on the door afterwards was very positive; if I could have a few more like today’s and yesterday’s (which was also a good one) the run would be a joy.

My only frustration now is I’ve yet to be reviewed, as I’d hate to have my favourite show to date missed by the press. There’s no guarantee they’d like it of course, but it’s nice to have something to quantify my fringe run with. That said, I’m not going to allow myself to dwell on this for too long as I told myself this wasn’t my priority for this year’s Fringe from the offset; the reason I’m here is to get better at what I do without stressing too much; anything else is a bonus.

Popular posts from this blog

Shakerpuppetmaker.

Have Parker from Thunderbirds and Noel Gallagher ever been seen in the same room? The resemblance is uncanny. So much so, I think something’s afoot. If my suspicions are correct, I've stumbled across a secret that will blow the music and puppet industry wide apart. In the mid-60s / mid-90s at least. It doesn’t take long to see the signposts. There’s the similarity between the name of Oasis’ first single, Supersonic, and Supermarianation, Gerry Anderson’s puppetry technique. The Gallagher brothers would often wear Parkas . Live Forever was clearly a reference to Captain Scarlet and Standing on the Shoulder of Giants to the size difference between Noel and his bandmates. The more you think about it, the more brazen it gets. It’s fishier than Area 51, Paul is Dead and JFK's assassination put together. The only glitch to the theory is scale . According to Wikipedia, Anderson’s marionettes were 1’10” and Gallagher is 5’8”. How does he maintain an illusion of avera...

Comedy That's Worth a Letch.

Today, I nipped to Letchworth to meet with illustrator (and one-time - two-time - comedy poet) Mushybees, to discuss an event Mostly Comedy will act as surrogate parents to as part of Letchworth’s Arts Takeover in a couple of weeks. Months ago he got into contact to see if we’d be up for co-organising a comedy stage as part of Letchworth’s weekend of arts-based attractions in July; something I’d provisionally said yes to, before things got hectic in the lead-up to Edinburgh and we didn’t take it any further. Despite not getting down to the nitty-gritty straight away, we managed to pull a line-up together in a back-and-forth of emails yesterday, leading to me getting Glyn’s blessing and us deciding we’d officially go ahead with it (whatever ‘officially’ means in this context). In reality, it’s not complicated: from 12pm until 6pm-ish on the 22 nd July, Glyn, Mushybees and I will host four Edinburgh previews from four acts (including me), before Nor...

Stevenage: A (Tiny) River Runs Through it.

If ever a river was mis-sold, it’s the Roaring Meg in Stevenage. I just walked past it on my way to the retail park that has taken its name. They’re similarly uninspiring. The river is less of a roar and more of a dribble; cystitis sufferers produce greater flow. The retail park is soulless. What was once a thriving enterprise is nearly devoid of atmosphere, save an underlying essence of emptiness and despair. With a Toys R Us. When it was first built I was excited. Back then, the thought of a bowling alley, an ice rink, a Harvester and a Blockbuster Video within a small surface area was enticing. I celebrated many birthdays on site. There was an indoor cricket pitch there for a while where I once had a joint party with a friend. Why someone with an almost pathological fear of sport would agree to such a venture is beyond me, but I did it. Now, there’s very little at the Roaring Meg of note. The river would be a metaphor for the shopping ce...